Conveying system for foodstuffs

ABSTRACT

A conveying system (10) for foodstuffs comprising a first conveyor (11) and a second conveyor (12) placed side by side with the end of the first conveyor overlapping the start of the second conveyor. The overlapping portions of the conveyors are in close proximity so as to define a transfer zone (25). Each conveyor has a plurality of foodstuff supports each adapted to support a single piece of foodstuff, and a tilting device to tilt the foodstuff support of the first conveyor to cause the foodstuff to roll from the support of the first conveyor to the support of the second conveyor. The first conveyor (11) includes a photographic zone and the second conveyor includes a weighing zone and multiple ejection zones.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a conveying system and in particular tocomponents of a conveyor for use to sort, size or weigh a variety offruit or vegetables. This invention also relates to the method andapparatus disclosed in earlier patent applications of the applicant. SeePCT/AU90/00464 and PCT/AU92/00551.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In the applicant's earlier applications PCT/AU90/00464 andPCT/AU92/00551, there is disclosed a conveying system that in essencesorts fruit or vegetables by using a camera that views the fruit orvegetables as they rotate slowly past the camera zone. The camera feedsa signal to a computer that notes the size, shape, colour and weight ofeach fruit and its location on the conveyor line. The computer thenactivates solenoids that effect a discharge mechanism that causes thefruit or vegetables to be tipped off the conveying system for collectioninto suitable bins. In this manner, the system can automatically sortfruit and vegetables at high speed into discrete groups based on size,colour, weight and defects.

The componentary that makes up a conveying systems of the kind describedabove is inherently complex. Designers strive to produce simply mouldedplastics components that effectively do the job but do not require hughexpenditure in tooling costs. It is also important with conveyingsystems of the kind described above that they are reliable and that ifthere is a jam or break down there is no mass destruction of thecomponentary.

It has been discovered that an important criterion for efficient use ofa camera to view fruit or vegetables is the quality of surroundinglight. It is difficult to illuminate fruit or vegetables from theunderside of the conveyor due to the complexity of the conveyorcomponentary. The more complicated the conveyor componentary the moredifficult and expensive are the tooling costs. A further problem withconveying systems of the kind described above is the design of amechanism that allows the fruit to be weighted. It is known to place aload sensor under a carriage carrying a single piece of fruit orvegetable. It is however difficult to ensure that the load sensoractually reads the whole mass of the fruit and its carriage. A furtherproblem with load sensors of this kind is that, due to the speed of theconveying system and the vibrations that are inherent in any suchsystems there is a danger that there will be wild fluctuations in theload that is actually sensed by the load sensor plate.

It is these problems that have brought about the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a conveyingsystem for foodstuffs comprising a first conveyor and a second conveyorplaced side by side with the end of the first conveyor overlapping thestart of the second conveyor, the overlapping portions of the conveyorsbeing in close proximity to define a transfer zone, each conveyor havinga plurality of foodstuff support means adapted each to support a singlepiece of foodstuff, and means to tilt the foodstuff support means of thefirst conveyor to cause the foodstuff to roll from the support means ofthe first conveyor to the support means of the second conveyor.

Preferably, the foodstuff support means is designed to facilitate simpleejection of foodstuff whilst at the same time adaptable to ensureaccurate and positive readings by a load cell sensor plate.

Preferably, each foodstuff support means of the second conveyorcomprises a support member attached to the chain, the support memberpivotally supporting a pair of parallel spaced apart radius arms whichin turn pivotally support a cup adapted to support a foodstuff, theradius arms being joined by a latch assembly that engages the supportmember to control the pivotal relationship between the radius arms andthe support member.

According to the present invention there is further provided a weighingcup for use in a foodstuff conveying and sorting system, the weighingcup comprising a cup adapted to support foodstuff, the cup beingpivotally secured across a pair of radius arms to pivot about a singlepivot axis, the radius arms being pivotally coupled to support meansarranged to be secured to a conveyor to cause the cups to be displacedalong a longitudinal conveying path, the conveying path beingsubstantially parallel to the pivot axes of the cup and radius arms, thecup having at least one downwardly projecting leg whereby in use, as thecup moves through a weighing station, the leg rides up a ramp to causethe cup to be lifted relative to the support means and to be borne by aweight sensor plate as the leg slides along the length of the sensorplate so that the plate can sense the weight of the cup and its content

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side on view of a conveyor system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the conveyor system;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of part of a first conveyor;

FIG. 4A is an end elevational view of part of the first conveyor in afruit transporting position;

FIG. 4B is an end on view of the first conveyor when in a transferposition;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a fruit support system for the firstconveyor;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of part of the fruit support system ofa second conveyor;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the components that make upthe fruit support system of the second conveyor;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view showing the transfer between the firstconveyor to the second conveyor.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the fruit support system of thesecond conveyor when in a released for ejection position;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the fruit conveyor system of thesaid conveyor in an ejection position;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the fruit support system of thesecond conveyor when travelling over a load cell; and

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the second fruit conveyor whenover the load cell.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The conveying system 10 used to size, sort and, in some cases, weighfruit and vegetables is shown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2. The systemcomprises two endless conveyors 11 and 12 of which are driven betweenspaced apart drive sprockets 13, 14, 15 and 16. The first conveyorincludes a singulator 17 that causes fruit to form a single line. Aphotographic zone 19 which is in the form of a camera box 20 that ispositioned above the path of the conveyor. The camera box contains a CCDcamera which is in turn coupled to a computer not shown. The design andoperation of the CCD camera and its association with the computer isdescribed in more detail in the applicant's patent applicationPCT/AU90/00464. The disclosure of this application is incorporatedherein by reference. The fruit leave the photographic zone 19 to passinto a transfer zone 25 positioned at one end of the first conveyor 11.The transfer zone 25 is designed to allow the fruit to be transferredlaterally onto the second conveyor 12, the entry of which runs parallelto and adjacent to the end zone of the first conveyor as shown in FIG.2. The second conveyor 12 incorporates a load cell 26 that allows eachpiece of fruit to be weighed and a plurality of collection zones 27. Insimple terms, as the fruit passes through the photographic zone 19, thecamera notes the size, shape and colour and the location of the fruit.The computer allocates each piece of fruit to a collection zone andtriggers an ejection means to tip the fruit off the second conveyor 12at predetermined positions into collection bins. This tipping mechanismis also subject to information received from the load cell so that thevarious collection bins collect the fruit in categories of size, shape,weight and colour.

Although in the described embodiment the fruit is formed into a singleline for exposure to the camera and then that single line is transferredonto the second conveyor means, it is understood that a pair of secondconveyor means may be provided on either side of the first conveyormeans which could include two lines of fruit whereby the lines aretransferred respectively to either side onto the second conveyors.

The first conveyor comprises an endless chain 28 driven between thedrive sprockets 13 and 14. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first conveyoris supported on an aluminium extrusion 30 that has parallel upstandingwall portions 31 and 32 that support extruded plastics cover members 33and 34. The cover members define elongate bearing surfaces 35 and 36 onwhich the underside of a plurality of chain clips 40 can run. Each chainclip supports a fruit roller assembly 50 that is mounted to be rotatableon a roller support linkage 60 which is pivotally supported to the chainclip 40. Each chain clip 40 is injected moulded in plastics and as shownin FIG. 5 comprises a planar running surface 41 with a pair ofdownwardly extending clip portions 42 and 43. As shown in FIG. 4 theclip portions 42 and 43 engage a chain link 28. The upper surface of thechain clip 40 is provided with a pair of upwardly extending webs 46 and47 of triangular configuration, the upper ends of the webs are providedwith co-axial holes 48 which support part of the roller support bar 60that in turns support the fruit roller assembly 50. The roller supportbar 60 as illustrated in FIG. 5 and comprises three pieces of bent steelrod welded together. The first piece comprises an axle 61 that extendsbetween the upstanding webs 46, 47 to be located in the holes 48. Aroller support shaft 62 is attached adjacent one end of the axle 61 toextend perpendicular to the axle at a position disposed above the axisof the axle 61. The roller support shaft 62 supports in a freelyrotatable manner the fruit roller assembly 50. The other end of the axle61 has a triangular shaped bracket 63 welded thereto, the free end 64 ofwhich supports an idler roller 65 and the apex 66 of which defines aabutment surface. It is understood that the roller support bar 60 couldbe replaced by a plastics moulding which would include the axle 61,roller support shaft 62, and an idler roller 65 support bracket havingan abutment surface or apex 66.

The fruit roller assembly 50 comprises a pair of frusto conical supportmembers 51, 52 made of flexible plastics or rubber mounted spaced aparton the shaft 62 via a cylindrical spacing member 53 to define a taperedsupport surface with a slot 55 extending therebetween. The frustoconical support members 51, 52 are mounted so as to be freely rotatableon the support shaft 62. The chain clips 40 and the fruit rollerassemblies 50 are spaced on the chain at the pitch shown in FIG. 3 andit should be noticed that the idler rollers 65 are midway between thegaps between adjacent fruit roller assemblies 50 to effectively preventsmall fruit falling between the rollers.

In the normal fruit supporting configuration, the fruit support rollers50 adopt the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A, namely with the axisof the supporting shafts 62 extending horizontally and a single piece offruit supported between adjacent rollers with the idler roller 65preventing the fruit dropping through the gap between the rollers. Theextreme edge of the outer frusto conical fruit support roller 51 isarranged to engage a friction surface 59 so that as the chain 28 movesand the rollers 51 pass the friction surface 59 the rollers are causedto rotate on the support shafts 62. The rotation of the rollers is toensure that the fruit rotate slowly as they pass through thephotographic zone 19 to ensure that the camera has a view of the wholeperiphery of the fruit.

Once the fruit has passed through the photographic zone 19, they reachthe transfer zone 25 towards the end of the first conveyor 11. Thetransfer zone 25 is about a meter in length and defines as shown in FIG.2 an area where the first conveyor 11 runs parallel and close to thesecond conveyor 12. The conveyors are driven at the same speed to thusbe in synchronization with one another. As the first roller assemblies50 reach the start of the transfer zone, the apex 66 on the underside ofthe roller support bar 60 engages the base of an inclined ramp 69 and isdriven up the ramp 69 from the position shown in FIG. 4A to the positionshown in FIG. 4B. The movement of the support bar 60 up the ramp 69causes the roller support bar 60 to pivot about the triangular webs 46,47 of the chain clip 40 to tilt the roller assemblies 50 to the positionshown in FIG. 4B at which the fruit are tipped sideways to move from thefirst conveyor 11 to the second conveyor 12 as shown in FIG. 8.

The second conveyor 12 comprises a similar sprocket driven chainassembly as the first conveyor which is illustrated with similarreference numerals and is not described in detail herein. As shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the chain clip 140 is similar to the chain clip 40 of thefirst conveyor 11 and is again moulded as a single component inplastics. However, the upper surface 141 of the chain clip 140 differsin the sense that there is an upstanding wall 144 extending between thetriangular webs 146, 147 and on either side of the wall are a pair ofsmaller upstanding flanges 142 and 143 that extend across the clip 140between the webs 146, 147. The webs 146, 147 of the chain clip 140pivotally support a cup carriage 150 which in turn pivotally supports afruit carrying cup 160. The underside of the carriage 150 is arranged tobe latched against the rearward upstanding flange 142 on the chain clip140 and is releaseable from that position by operation of a trigger 170which is pivotally secured between two downwardly projecting webs 151,152 on the underside of the cup carriage 150. The cup 160, carriage 150,trigger 170 and chain clip 140 are all moulded from plastics and form afour component assembly which constitutes the conveying surface drivenby the chain 28 and includes a simple release mechanism that allowsejection of fruit held in the conveyor cup 160.

As shown in FIG. 7 the cup carriage 150 comprises a pair of radius arms153, 154 extending parallel to one another and joined by an end portion155. The free ends of the radius arms 153, 154 terminate in inwardlyprojecting spindles 156 that support downwardly extending flanges 164 onthe underside 166 of the cup 160 so that the cup is pivotable about thespindles 156. The other ends of the radius arms 153, 154 are providedwith outwardly extending stub axles 157 that locate in the holes 148 inthe upper ends of the webs 146, 147 on the chain clip 140. In thismanner, the cup carriage 150 can pivot relative to the chain clip 140.The pivot axes of the cup 160 and cup carriage 150 are parallel andsubstantially horizontal.

Each cup 160 as shown in FIG. 7 comprises a dished upper surface 165.The underside 166 has a pair of aligned downwardly extending legs 161and 162 at the mid span of the cup when viewed longitudinally of theconveyor. The downwardly extending flanges 164 are offset from thecentre line of the cup 160 so that the pivot axis is offset causing therear end 168 of the cup to rest against the cup carriage 150. Theforward end 167 of the cup 160 has a downward flange 169 that abuts theupper surface of the radius arms 153, 154 to limit forward pivotalmovement of the cup 160 relative to the cup carriage 150 to the positionshown in FIG. 8.

The arrangement of the carriage 150 when it supports the cup 160 is suchthat the centre of gravity of the cup 160 and carriage 150 is displacedfrom the pivot axis causing the cup and carriage to naturally dropdownwardly as shown in FIG. 10. The underside of the cup carriageincludes a downwardly extending pair of location webs 151, 152 withcoaxial apertures 158 and the trigger 170, shown in FIG. 7, clips intothe apertures 158 between the webs 151, 152 to be pivotabletherebetween. The webs 151, 152 also include a pair of gussets 176, 177that extend in a parallel spaced apart manner as shown in dotted profilein FIGS. 6 and 9. The trigger 170 is L-shaped in the form of arectangular plate 171 with an upstanding foot 172. At the join betweenthe plate 171 and the foot 172 a pair of spindles 173 extend outwardlyto facilitate pivotal location between the webs 151, 152 on theunderside of the cup carriage 150. A small upstanding resilient finger174 extends upwardly parallel to the foot 172 of the trigger 170. Asshown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the foot 172 of the trigger 170 rests between thedownwardly extending gussets 176, 177 thereby limiting movement of thetrigger 170 to a small angle as the foot 172 engages either adjacentsurface of the gussets 176, 177. The finger 174 rests against the outersurface of the larger gusset 176 and acts as a spring to force thetrigger 170 into the position shown in FIG. 6. The underside of thetrigger 170 has a triangular lug 175 that extends downwardly to engageagainst the interior of the upstanding flange 142 on the end of thechain clip 140. With the assembly shown in FIG. 6, the trigger 170 actsto prevent pivotal movement of the cup carriage 150 relative to thechain clip 140 due to the engagement of the triangular lug 175 on theflange 142 on the chain clip 140. To release the cup carriage 150, asolenoid (not shown) engages the free end of the rectangular plate 171of the trigger 170 and pushes the trigger 170 upwardly against theresilient finger 174. The upward movement of the trigger 170 causes thetriangular lug 175 to ride clear of the flange 142 on the chain clip 140thereby releasing the trigger 170 (FIG. 9) so that the cup and carriageassembly pivots downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 10. As shown inFIG. 10 the downward pivotal movement of the carriage 150 also causesthe cup 160 to pivot forwardly relative to the carriage and causes thefruit to tip out of the assembly into suitable collection bins or takeoff conveyors not shown. The solenoids are programmed by the computer torelease the triggers 170 at determined times and positions along theroute of the second conveyor 12. The cups 160 are returned to theirhorizontal, fruit supporting position, by a ramping mechanism (notshown) at the end of the conveyor which pushes each cup back up so thatthe trigger 170 re-engages against the flange 142 on the chain clip 140.

In a preferred embodiment the second conveyor 12 includes a load cell 26which is coupled to the computer to accurately weigh each piece of fruitas it passes along the second conveyor. The load cell 26 and itsassociation with the fruit carrying cup assembly is illustrated in FIGS.11 and 12.

As shown in FIG. 11 the cup 160 has a pair of centrally positionedlaterally spaced apart downwardly projecting legs 161, 162 and theselegs are arranged to ride on to a load cell sensor plate 165 at theweighing zone of the conveyor. As shown in FIG. 11, one leg 161 ispositioned adjacent the rear of the cup 160 and the other leg 162 isadjacent the front of the cup. Both legs 161 and 162 are positionedaligned about the mid-span of the cup so that the contact of the cup 160on the load cell sensor plate is comparatively narrow, see FIG. 12. Thismeans that as the cup 160 moves in the direction as shown in the arrow Ain FIG. 12, it is in contact with the load cell sensor plate 165 for theperiod that it slides along the whole surface of the load cell sensorplate 165. The length of the sensor plate 165 is the same as the pitchof the carriages 150 so that as the legs 161, 162 of one cup 160 reachthe start of the plate 165 the legs of the adjacent cup move off theother end of the plate.

The fact that the cup slides along the surface of the load cell sensorplate 165 for a considerable period produces a much more accuratereading. The fact that the conveyor is moving at considerable speed andthe variations that are inherent in conveying systems of this kind meansthat the reading of the load cell fluctuates as the cup slides acrossthe sensor plate. The longer the cup is on the sensor plate the betteris the chance of producing a mean reading which accurately reflects theweight of the cup and fruit.

At the weighing zone, the legs 161, 162 of the cup 160 are ramped ontothe load cell sensor plate 165. The upward ramp has the effect ofcausing the cup 160 to lift through its pivotal linkage with thecarriage. As the legs 161, 162 rest on the sensor plate 165 the cup andfruit would be unstable due to the narrow width of the legs (see FIG.12). However, the pivotal relationship of the cup 160 with the radiusarms 153, 154 and the pivotal relationship of the cup carriage 150 withthe chain clip 140 ensures that the cup lifts to be horizontal on theload plate 165 whilst at the same time being disassociated with anyvertical component of the horizontal driving force of the chainconveyor. In this manner, the load cell through the legs 161, 162 of thecup 160 absorbs all the weight of the fruit and, the cup 160. The onlyother vertical force is through pivot points 156 and 157 and thesefrictional forces are so small as not to effect the recorded weight. Thedisconnection by the lifting action of all other physical associationbetween the cup 160, carriage 150, chain clip 140 and trigger 170ensures that the vertical component of the mass of the fruit and cup arenot associated with the carriage's association with the chain clip 140.

The use of a pair of aligned legs 161 and 162 and support by radius arms153, 154 also allows the cup 160 to be lifted through varying heights tothus accommodate physical irregularities in the conveyor and load plate156 without detrimentally affecting the load readings.

As mentioned earlier in the specification, the computer is programmed toconsider the size, shape and colour of the fruit together with theweight of each fruit. This information is then used for the computer toactivate the solenoids that are positioned along the end of the secondconveyor so that activation of the particular solenoids has the effectof causing the fruit to be ejected into collection bins which wouldcollect fruit in accordance with size, shape, colour and weight. In thisway, the system is able to sort and classify a variety of foodstuffs andin particular a variety of fruit and vegetables of greatly differentshapes and sizes. Such foodstuffs include citrus and stone fruits,apples and tomatoes.

One of the main advantages of having a twin conveying system is that theweighing and ejection componentary can be included within the secondconveyor leaving the fruit rotating and photographic zone to the firstconveyor. The most critical parameter in the photographic zone is goodlight and it has been discovered that the use of a single conveyorsystem that incorporates fruit rotating means, a load cell sensor systemas well as fruit ejection means that the conveyor is very cluttered incomponentary rendering it extremely difficult to get adequate lightingto the fruit thereby reducing the quality of the image taken by thecamera. By designing the first conveyor so that its only role is torotate the fruit through the photographic zone and then transfer thefruit onto the second conveyor, the componentary is much simpler andless cluttered which facilitates the use of suitable lighting toadequately illuminate the fruit. The transfer zone allows simple andeffective transfer of fruit from the first conveyor to the secondconveyor by tilting the rollers of the first conveyor causing the fruitto be displaced sideways to roll onto the cup conveyors 160 which arealso tilted slightly into the direction of the fruit entry asillustrated in FIG. 8. The slight tilting of the cup 160 is effected bycausing an abutment 185 positioned adjacent the cup 160 at the transferzone to engage the upper outer edge of the cup 160 to cause the cup topivot forwardly of the carriage 150 to the position shown in FIG. 8. Itis however understood that tilting of the cup conveyors 160 is notessential. Another option is to place brushes adjacent the outer edge ofthe cup conveyors so that fruit cannot roll off the conveyors as theyfall from the rollers of the first conveyor.

Transfer of fruit at the transfer zone is carefully controlled to ensurethat the right fruit is transferred to the right cup conveyor on thesecond conveyor. Since the colour, size and blemish information isgleaned whilst on the first conveyor it is important that the computerknows where a particular fruit is on the second conveyor so that it canbe appropriately ejected. Thus at the transfer zone it is important toknow when the fruit moves from the first conveyor to the secondconveyor. It is also important that transfer does not damage the fruit.Thus, the conveyors run at the same speed to assure that in effect thetransfer takes place with no relative motion between the conveyorsensuring a very soft and damage free transfer.

The system has been designed to utilise simple plastics mouldings thateffectively carry out the desired functions. The complication ofcomponentary of both conveyors has been kept to a minimum to reduce thelikelihood of mass destruction at a breakdown or jam of the conveyorwhilst at the same time provide efficient operation and adequatelighting.

We claim:
 1. A conveying system for foodstuff comprising a firstconveyor and a second conveyor placed side by side with the end of thefirst conveyor overlapping the start of the second conveyor, theoverlapping portions of the conveyors being in close proximity to definea transfer zone, each conveyor having a plurality of support meansadapted each to support a single piece of foodstuff, the support meansof the first conveyor comprising an axially rotatable roller assemblypivotally secured to a support structure so that the roller assembly cantilt relative to the support structure, means to tilt the rollerassembly to cause the foodstuff to move from the roller assembly of thefirst conveyor onto the support means of the second conveyor, the firstconveyor incorporating a photographic zone and means to cause the rollerassembly to rotate the foodstuff as it passes through the photographiczone, and the support means of the second conveyor being adapted toeject the foodstuff from the support means at pre-positioned ejectionzones.
 2. The conveying system according to claim 1 wherein the firstand second conveyors are adapted to run at the same speeds.
 3. Theconveying system according to claim 1 wherein the conveyors are chainconveyors.
 4. The conveying system according to claim 1 comprising rampmeans positioned at the transfer zone to engage each roller assembly tocause each roller assembly to tilt to effect transfer of the foodstufffrom the first conveyor to the second conveyor.
 5. The conveying systemaccording to claim 1 wherein each support means of the second conveyoris adapted to tilt towards the first conveyor at the transfer zone. 6.The conveying system according to claim 1 wherein the means to rotatethe foodstuff as it passes through the photographic zone comprises afriction surface that is engaged by rollers of the roller assembly. 7.The conveying system according to claim 1 wherein the second conveyorincludes a weighing station at which each support means and its loadsare weighed.
 8. The conveying system according to claim 7 wherein theweighing station includes a ramp connected to a weight sensor platewhereby as the support means passes through the weighing zone thesupport means is lifted by the ramp to slide on the weight sensor plate.9. The conveying system according to claim wherein each support means ofthe second conveyor comprises a support member operatively attached tothe chain of the conveyor, the support member pivotally supporting apair of parallel spaced apart radius arms which in turn pivotallysupport a cup adapted to support a single piece of foodstuff, the radiusarms being joined by a latch assembly that engages the support member tocontrol the pivotal relationship between the radius arms and the supportmember.
 10. The conveying system according to claim 9 wherein anexternally operable trigger is provided to release the latch assembly tocause the cup and radius arms to pivot downwardly relative to thesupport member to cause the cup to release its contents.
 11. Theconveying system according to claim 9 wherein the pivot axes of the cupand radius arms and radius arms and support member are parallel to thedirection of travel of the conveyor.
 12. The conveying system accordingto claim 11 wherein the pivot axis of the cup is adjacent the free endsof the radius arms and the pivot axis of the support member is at theother ends of the radius arms so that a vertical plane containing thecentre of gravity of the cup and radius arms is displaced from the pivotaxis at the support member.
 13. The conveying system according to claim12 wherein the pivot axis of the cup to the radius arms is displacedfrom the vertical plane containing the centre of gravity of the cup sothat the cup freely rests on a crossmember interconnecting the otherends of the radius arms.
 14. The conveying system according to claim 9when dependent on claim wherein the weighing station includes a rampconnected to a weight sensor plate and wherein the cup has at least onedownwardly projecting leg which in use, as the cup moves through theweighing station, rides up the ramp to cause the cup to be liftedrelative to the support member and to be borne by the weight sensorplate as the leg slides along the length of the sensor plate so that theplate can sense the weight of the cup and its contents.
 15. Theconveying system according to claim 14 wherein the cup has a pair oflaterally spaced apart downwardly projecting legs that are positionedcentrally of the cup in an aligned configuration across the cup.
 16. Theconveying system according to claim 8 wherein the length of the sensorplate is equal to the spacing of the foodstuff support means.
 17. Amethod of sorting or classifying foodstuff comprising transporting thefoodstuff along a first conveyor on support means, rotating thefoodstuff through a photographic zone, monitoring characteristics of thefoodstuff at the photographic zone, tilting the support means totransfer laterally the foodstuff onto a support means on a secondconveyor positioned with one end overlapping and adjacent to the end ofthe first conveyor, carrying the support means over a load cell to weighthe foodstuff and ejecting the foodstuff from the support means of thesecond conveyor in accordance with the characteristics or weight of thefoodstuff.
 18. A support and discharge mechanism for use with a conveyorthat sorts, sizes and/or weighs foodstuffs, the mechanism comprising asupport member adapted to be secured onto a link of a chain of aconveyor, the support member pivotally supporting support means adjacentone edge of the support means, the support means including a pair ofspaced radius arms pivotally supporting a cup, the cup being adapted tosupport a single foodstuff to be transported by the conveyor, thesupport means having a latching assembly that resiliently engages ontothe support member, the latching assembly having a projecting latchwhereby an upward force on the latch causes the latching assembly todisengage from the support member causing the support means and cup topivot downwardly relative to the support member to discharge foodstuffsupported by the cup.
 19. The support and discharge mechanism accordingto claim 18 wherein the pivotal support of the cup on the radius armsallows the cup to be lifted relative to the support means to facilitateweighing of the cup and its contents.
 20. The support and dischargemechanism according to claim 18 wherein the latch assembly comprises adownwardly extending flange that engages the support member to act as astop against pivotal movement of the support means in one direction, andthe latch being resiliently urged to engage the support member to act asa stop against pivotal movement of the support member in the otherdirection.
 21. The support and discharge mechanism according to claim 18wherein the pivotal support of the cup on the radius arms ensures asmall amount of pivotal movement on either side of the pivotal axis.